What does your role entail and how long have you been doing it?
I’ve been at Fleet Mortgages since May 2021 when I joined the team as a sales administrator. In October 2021, I was promoted to the role of telephone BDM. My role is focused on liaising with brokers and the internal teams within Fleet where I act as the middleman between the different departments.
I keep our brokers updated on changes to our products and criteria, I facilitate cases, and I prospect for new business. But ultimately, my role is all about relationship building, which I really enjoy.
What attracted you to working in the mortgage/property/finance sector?
I moved to a new area several years ago and I got a temporary job at BMW within their financial services division and I totally fell in love with it. I’d originally trained to become a teacher but I enjoyed my job so much, I never ended up teaching. I fell into a career in finance almost by accident but spent 15 years working at BMW before coming to Fleet Mortgages. My husband and father were both mortgage brokers so I’ve always felt as though the mortgage industry was part of my life in some way.
When I got the job at Fleet, I was confident I could transfer my skills and knowledge of the finance industry into my new role, it was just a case of learning about different products.
What were you doing in the five years before starting here?
I spent 15 years working for BMW with eight years as an underwriter before moving into the sales side of the business where I became a regional manager and was on the road a lot. I think I had a bit of a midlife crisis when I questioned whether I was working in the wrong industry so I took a year out and worked in a nursery.
It was a huge challenge and a totally different experience to working in finance, but it helped me to realise I preferred sitting at a desk in the world of finance.
What personal talent/skill is most valuable in doing your job?
I would say the number one skill for my role is being organised. There’s always so much going on at any given time with different brokers and different cases. It’s important for me to be organised and keep on top of what’s happening with them all.
What personal talent/skill would you most like to improve on?
Sometimes, I can be a little ‘to the point’ with my communication, however over the years, I’ve trained myself to think first before I speak and now I adapt the way I communicate to different people by recognising how they communicate with me.
How has the pandemic changed the way you approach your job?
The pandemic came before I started at Fleet but for me, my life changed dramatically. The pandemic has made me more laid back in my approach to work. So much happened in that year and looking after the children of key workers who had to work throughout the pandemic was such a different experience to working in an office. It made me more aware of life outside of work and the importance of having a work-life balance.
What is the most interesting/memorable property deal/case you’ve been involved in?
I had a case where the client had exchanged contracts on a property two years prior and was bound by a contract which saw them paying a big weekly fee until it completed. It was a really unusual situation but I was determined to get the case to work. It was a struggle and we were up against it but when it finally completed, we were all so relieved.
Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
I would love to be at Fleet in five years’ time and hopefully still in sales because I love it.
If present-day you could go in time back and tell yourself something five years ago, what would it be?
I would say that work is not your life, it’s what you do to earn money. Life will always be more important than work and it’s important to prioritise family over work.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve tackled so far in your career?
I think my biggest challenge was starting all over again when I got to 40. I’d been flying high in my previous role but then started all over again at Fleet as a sales administrator. It definitely felt like a confidence knock at first, and I was a bit nervous, not knowing whether I would enjoy it. But the role was similar to what I’d done before and now I look at it as the best thing I ever did.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
I’d like to be able to hear people’s thoughts, I think that would be really fun. What do my brokers really think?
And finally, what’s the strangest question you’ve ever been asked?
We had a question recently on whether the fact that the client’s husband had been shot by a hitman outside the property might affect its valuation. Strange but true.
